How to Chisel Out a Rock-Solid Security Plan

New strategies to combat emerging and growing threats

Thinking back years ago, managing IT security often meant locking your critical applications and services in a room, maybe a big room depending on what decade we are talking about. Much like an alligator moat around a castle, you could sleep easy knowing not much could infiltrate your protection. Just as technology has evolved, so have the threats. The threat landscape changes daily. In today’s highly collaborative, highly mobile business world, with an enterprise that no longer has a physical boundary, a locked room isn’t an option—and forget about the alligators.

Threats are increasing in both sophistication and frequency, and now they have more targets than ever. Everything from traditional desktop PCs and tablets to smartphones and Web apps—attackers use these and more as gateways to access to mission-critical information.
The whole concept of security has changed dramatically because business processes have changed. For example, people constantly access and use tools on the Internet. This exposes your environment to everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly. And most of the time the user isn’t even aware of the risk. So in today’s world, your standard user, operating their standard computer, accessing the Internet or being subject to a phishing email attack, can wreak havoc across an entire environment. What’s more, one compromised system can give cybercriminals an access point to your sensitive data. For those of us that work daily in this complex business environment, these are the things that keep us up at night.
If you think it sounds scary, it is. No one enjoys thinking about the potential threats, the possible damage, or the astronomical costs associated with a security breach, and let’s not forget about the cost associated with the loss of reputation a breach causes. But, you can build a security plan that offers peace of mind. To do so, you must pay attention to the full threat lifecycle. And that’s a key concept that PC Connection focuses on. We address all aspects of threat and risk management: protection, detection, and reaction.
I’d like to migrate everyone away from a “set it and forget it” protection philosophy. You can’t just buy technology, put it in your environment, and assume you are safe.
It’s imperative to include the detection and the reaction piece of the business plan, as part of a fully managed Security Risk Governance Program. This provides the tools and capability to manage your risk to an acceptable range.
The team at PC Connection helps organizations do just that. We make sure that we focus on that complete threat lifecycle. When we advise the customer on risk, we start with “discovery” as part of the overall security lifecycle—or road map—to identify risks and help a customer prioritize and address those risks.
Then, over time, we focus on steps to make sure everyone is constantly on top of known—and potential—issues. That’s the detection and reaction piece of the puzzle—which leads to a managed service that identifies your policies, documents your policies, and outlines and monitors controls. And, just as importantly, this service makes sure that you’re managing the ability to comply with those policies and controls—managing your security risk daily. The experts at PC Connection are some of the best I’ve seen in my entire career. You can trust them to develop a rock-solid security plan for your peace of mind.
For the full story on protecting against modern day threats and minimizing security risks, be sure to listen to this podcast with Steve Nardone.